I’ve got a little bit of a backlog of images, after being on the road for the holidays. In case you missed it, I was interviewed on Christmas Eve, by Geri over at Art of Mob.

I had plans to do a few posts to get some interaction going with you guys, and hopefully provide a spark to help us all reflect on 2014, and set some photography for 2015, but the first post didn’t get much interaction. Maybe now that the holidays are officially over, we can try again soon. We’ll see.

Now, about this image. I snuck out to the living room to get a shot of the calm before the storm on Christmas. I had to use my iPro super wide angle lens to even capture all the gifts with the tree. I decided to go with a painterly edit, so I used TangledFX. Then I took the TangledFX version and combined it with the original image in ImageBlender, to let the xmas lights shine through the painterly effect. I liked it much better than the swirls of color they’d become.

I’m back, after a quiet break from everything. It’s hard to get back into work mode, after a good break, but here we go. I still have a pile of fall photos to go through, a couple secret projects, as well as a surreal portrait that is nearly done.

This is another photo from Lithia Park in Ashland. I’ve shot this tree before, but this might be my new favorite. I used Mextures to change the color, and make it look more like fall. The rest of the Japanese garden was peaking, but this tree needed a little extra help in post.

I still can’t get over how awesome this tree was in person. I was walking through the woods, when it caught my attention. It was so much larger than the other trees, and the branches gave it character. I wish I had stood next to it for scale, because the base was very wide, and the super wide angle lens I used makes the tree seem smaller than it was.

I took photos from another angle, using TrueHDR, ProHDR, and VividHDR, so I could compare my favorite HDR camera apps. It was interesting comparing the results side by side. I’ll do a post with my thoughts within a week. I’m on my way to Oregon today for some time off. I need a break from caregiving, for my own sanity.

It’s time to say goodbye to NY. I’m on a train to CT now, taking in a sunrise, feeling like a zombie. NY has to be the most impressive city I’ve been to yet. I’ll miss the jay walking, the stylish women, the accents, and the way they’ve mastered the use of the f word.

This photo, from Prospect Park in Brooklyn, shows the most fall color I found in NY. I changed my focus when I realized I just wasn’t going to find any amazing fall shots. I thought I should try to find a random girl to model for me. As luck would have it, I met a local girl, that was actually born in Japan, who wanted to be my tour guide/model for a day. We had a lot of fun together and I think I have a new friend to hang out with next time I’m in the city. I’ll have to share those portraits later this month after I get home and have time to edit them.

Edited with snapseed. I’m still just shooting with the default camera app on the 5s because I think it’s improved a lot and it’s lightning fast.

It’s been a very rough few days for me here. Grandma has been extra anxious and forgetful. I hear she has a hard time after visitors leave and my aunt just left after staying for a few days. It’s also been rough because my new Internet got connected on the 1st but its hardly faster than what we had and comes with the added benefit of instability. It constantly drops every few minutes so I can’t get anything done on the computer. In fact, I spent over 20 minutes trying to upload a photo and post this morning before I gave up and decided to use my iPhone. Someone should be here Friday to try and fix the connection. I hope to blog more regularly after that.

Now, about this photo. I went to hakone gardens the day after I shot the wedding. I had all that great gear and wanted to use it somewhere nice. The garden was $8 to enter and they charge extra if you’re taking commercial photos. We showed up with like $7000 in gear and they didn’t think to charge us extra haha.

The pond was nice, full of turtles and koi. There was even a nice waterfall flowing into it. I think it would have been a better experience for us if there weren’t children running around like the trails were for jogging. I might go back sometime, just not soon.

I finally have some time to post again! I’ve been really busy editing photos from the recent engagement shoot. Here are a few good ones that I gave a more artistic edit. There are more on my facebook page too. Also, if you or anyone you know is getting married, I not only do engagement sessions, but weddings too. I’m willing to travel to you, so contact me!

After working on people photos for over a week, I’m dying to work on some landscapes :)